af 2017 in review: our favorite albums and singles of the year

While there's been many a jaded thinkpiece about the import of music critics (usually begging the question What are they good for?) and the ubiquity of year-end lists can feel shallow at times, we can't stress enough the importance of what it means to share music among friends. It's a huge part of developing our tastes early in life - everyone has that one super cool bestie who introduced you to your favorite band in middle school - and as we get older, if music remains a source of passion in our lives, it becomes something we bond over as new relationships form. Here at Audiofemme, we think of our readers as friends, so we made a list too. It's not definitive, it's not authoritative, and it's (hopefully) not pretentious - just a round-up of the albums and singles that soundtracked the year for our regular writers (and, of course, your editors). We hope it will result in discovery as one year becomes the next; perhaps that album you missed back in February will get you through this winter, here and now. Music exists on a continuum, and even though the releases were highlighting now all came out within a particular calendar year, we don't have to put them aside as we turn the page. Stay tuned for more features over the next week recapping 2017, and in the meantime, take a listen to some of our most beloved tunes.

EDITOR LISTS

• Annie White (Executive Director)

  Top 10 Albums: 1) Zola Jesus - Okovi 2) the xx - I See You 3) Jlin - Black Oragami 4) King Krule - The OOZ 5) Perfume Genius - No Shape 6) Kelela - Take Me Apart 7) Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights 8) Slowdive - Slowdive 9) SZA - Ctrl 10) Priests - Nothing Feels Natural Top 5 Singles: 1) Aimee Mann - “Goose Snow Cone” 2) Rostam - “Don’t Let It Get To You” 3) Lorde - “The Louvre” 4) Cardi B - “Bodak Yellow” 5) Charlotte Gainsbourg - "Deadly Valentine"

• Lindsey Rhoades (Editor-in-Chief)

  Top 10 Albums: 1) Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me 2) The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding 3) Slowdive - Slowdive 4) Sophia Kennedy - Sophia Kennedy 5) SZA - Ctrl 6) Circuit des Yeux - Reaching for Indigo 7) Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens 8) Big Thief - Capacity 9) Havah - Contravveleno 10) sir Was - Digging a Tunnel Top 10 Singles: 1) Land of Talk - “Inner Lover” 2) Xiu Xiu - “Wondering” 3) The National - “Nobody Else Will Be There” 4) Jlin - "Holy Child" 5) Marika Hackman - "Boyfriend" 6) Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - "An Intention" 7) Wolf Parade - "Valley Boy" 8) Syd - "Body" 9) Perfume Genius - "Wreath" 10) Pixx - "Toes"

STAFF LISTS

• Madison Bloom (Only Noise)

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Happyness - Write In 2) Timber Timbre - Sincerely, Future Pollution 3) Aldous Harding - Party 4) Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. 5) Perfume Genius - No Shape Top 3 Singles: 1) Aldous Harding - “Imagining My Man” 2) Blanck Mass - “Please” 3) Benjamin Clementine - “Phantom of Aleppoville”

• Ashley Prillaman

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Valerie June - The Order of Time 2) Portugal The Man - Woodstock 3) Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. 4) Big Thief - Capacity 5) SZA - Ctrl Top 3 Singles: 1) Valerie June - "Astral Plane" 2) Amber Mark - "Lose My Cool" 3) Big Thief - "Shark Smile"

• Kaiya Gordon (Playing Columbus)

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Princess Nokia - 1992 Deluxe 2) SZA - Cntrl 3) Paramore - After Laughter 4) Aye Nako - Silver Haze 5) Big Thief - Capacity Top 3 Singles: 1) Cardi B - "Bodak Yellow" 2) St. Vincent - "New York" 3) Japanese Breakfast - "Machinist"

• Sara Barron (Playing Detroit)

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Daniel Caesar - Freudian 2) Jamila Woods - HEAVN 3) Moses Sumney - Aromanticism 4) Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett - Lotta Sea Lice 5) Kevin Morby - City Music Top 3 Singles: 1) St. Vincent - "New York" 2) Snoh Aalegra - "Fool For You" 3) Cigarettes After Sex - "Sweet"

• Elizabeth Wakefield

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Bambara - Swarm 2) Angel Olsen - Phases 3) Bjork - Utopia 4) Surfbort - Bort 2 Death 5) Liars - TFCF Top 3 Singles: 1) Alexander F - "Swimmers" 2) Weeping Icon - "Jail Bilz" 3) Uni - "What’s the Problem?"

• Tarra Thiessen (Check the Spreadsheet)

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Francie Moon - So This is Life 2) The Big Drops - Time, Color 3) Angel Olsen - Phases 4) Lola Pistola - Curfew  5) Thelma & The Sleaze - Somebody's Doin Somethin Top 3 Singles: 1) Bizarre Sharks - "Tremendous" 2) Ty Segall - "Black Magick" 3) Fruit & Flowers - "Out of Touch"

• Jamila Aboushaca

  Top 5 Albums: 1) ODESZA — A Moment Apart 2) Royal Blood — How Did We Get So Dark? 3) Cut Copy — Haiku From Zero 4) Khalid — American Teen 5) Lana Del Rey — Lust For Life Top 3 Singles: 1) Rostam Batmanglij — "Gwan" 2) Cut Copy — "Standing In The Middle Of The Field" 3) alt-J — "In Cold Blood"

• Natalie Kirch (Pet Politics)

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Def Grrrls – GRLS 2) PILL - Convenience 3) Fruit & Flowers – Drug Tax 4) THICK – It’s Always Something 5) Fraidycat – Other Better Places Top 3 5 6 Singles: 1) Holy Tunics – "Victoria" 2) Alexander F – "Call Me Pretty" 3) Grim Streaker – "Miami Girl" 4) Lost Boy ? - "Mr. Dribble Drab" 5) Haybaby – "Yours" HONORABLE MENTION: Bad GP – "The GP Stripes Theme Song"

• Suzannah Weiss (High Notes)

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Laura Marling - Semper Femina 2) Galantis - The Aviary 3) Robin Schulz - Uncovered 4) Sleigh Bells - Kid Kruschev 5) Björk - Utopia Top 3 Singles: 1) Marshmello ft. Khalid - "Silence" 2) Martin Garrix ft. Troye Sivan - "There for You" 3) Dua Lipa - "New Rules"

• Mandy Brownholtz

  Top 5 Albums: 1) Alvvays - Antisocialites 2) Waxahatchee - Out In The Storm 3) Future Islands - The Far Field 4) Priests - Nothing Feels Natural 5) King Woman - Created In The Image Of Suffering Top 3 Singles: 1) Alvvays - "NotMy Baby" 2) Yumi Zouma - "December" 3) Charly Bliss - "Glitter"